If it was worth the risk, then it was also worth ensuring that they created an environment that was comfortable for Royce White. It doesn't seem like they did that. It seems like they treated him like just another rookie.
I kinda disagree. If you are getting paid millions by an organization to play basketball and you declare for a draft to be selected to play in the NBA, it is not your employer's prerogative to make sure you can play basketball with an NBA travel schedule.
If Royce White needed to only play home games and not much else, this needed to be made clear to all the teams while they were doing their draft interviews. Which would have lead to 30 teams not touching the guy with a ten foot pole on draft night.
What is the bet that Royce and his agent sugar coated this situation at draft time?
I'm not making light of his disorder or his fear of flying but why did Royce declare for the draft, knowing all about his struggles and probably knowing a fair bit about what an NBA team expects travel-wise?
I kinda disagree with your disagreement. It is the employer's prerogative. Just like with any player, it's up to the GM to pick a player who will be able to perform, and it's up to the coaching staff to help that player turn into the most productive player he can be.
Caveat emptor. It's not like the Rockets didn't have plenty of warning that they were taking a guy who had some issues and was going to need to be handled with care. If they couldn't deal with that, then they probably shouldn't have drafted him.
Maybe there's no team that will be able to meet Royce White's needs, but my guess is that he could find a home where he could be a good NBA player. I'm no psychiatrist, but my guess is also that it's as much about the interpersonal relationships and how he feels he was treated by the Rockets as it is about flights and practices.
As to your last paragraph, Royce White declared for the draft because he thought he would be drafted. He was right. I'm sure he didn't plan on this stuff happening.
It's like saying, "How dare Gabe Pruitt declare himself for the NBA draft when he knows he doesn't have what it takes to make it as an NBA player? The honorable thing for Gabe to do would be to go straight to Europe or the D-League and not waste an NBA franchise's draft pick and money."
Should a janitor apply to be a surgeon or pilot knowing he can't do the jobs? What if some idiot actually hires him due to a faulty background check?
I'm not going to apply for a job that I'm incapable of doing.
Both those professions have strict controls in place to prevent that from happening.
So does the NBA in a sense, it's called the scouting department and now getting a free year of college tape and reports.
Houston's scouting department obviously let them down, not sure why that's Royce White's fault. He's clearly athletically skilled enough to pay the position.
Under the logic here, Should every draft bust feel like they stole money, or is it different with Royce because of the stigma we associate with mental health issues?
I shed no tears for Houston, they evaluated the risk vs. reward and came to the conclusion that drafting a player who most said would be top 10 but for his mental health concerns was good value at pick 18. They were wrong.
You are right but let me try another one to make my point a little clearer. Would you apply to work at a deli if you were deathly afraid to go near the meat slicers?
That's a bad analogy. He's a good meat slicer. He's afraid to travel.
so the analogy should be
"If I was a fantastic meat slicer, would I apply to a job where I sliced meat in different cities if I knew I had a problem traveling?"
and the answer is probably yes, because one assumes that I would want to employ my meat slicing talents, and would be hopeful I could overcome my fear of traveling.
Would I be correct in thinking I could overcome the fear of traveling? I would hope so, as I'm sure Royce was hopeful.
Should I not apply to a job that I know I'm highly skilled for because I might not be able to manage my mental illness? Should I stay in Topeka, Kansas and be a fantastic meat slicer no one cares about because I have an illness that
might impact my career?
The thing people are confusing or disregarding here, and we had the same problem with deleonte, is this belief that people with mental health illnesses should give up on trying to improve themselves and live their life according to the limitations of their disease. That whatever makes the person "all cray cray" is a permanent condition they should be ashamed of and not try to improve or manage.
There seems to be this Idea that White is sitting there going "Muahhahaha I had no intention of attempting to overcome or manage my
WELL KNOWN PRIOR TO EMPLOYMENT OFFER mental handicap, now I can screw over the poor, helpless rockets!!"
I'm sure he's just as frustrated as the rockets. Do you think he wants to give up his lifelong dream and succumb to his mental illness? I'm gonna guess the answer is probably no.